Gaijin Guardian
by yinngoh
Summary: Series: Harry may have a habit of picking up strays in this dysfunctional village he's assigned to. Part One: Freshly-minted aurors Potter, Granger, Weasley and two others are chosen to reestablish and strengthen old ties with the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
1. Part 1-1

Standing back and craning his head upwards, Harry took in the sight of enormous walls enclosing the village compound. He rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his shoulders, feeling antsy already after their somewhat magically-tiring journey.

"Harry?" a familiar female-voice snapped him out of his daze to face the group of four aurors and two men dressed in military-like clothing who were turned towards him curiously. "Ready to head in?" Hermione smiled amusedly.

"Ah, right," he replied, following after the group slowly. He paid little attention to their two guide's voices – leaving the diplomatic relations to Hermione – who was, after all, much more suited to it that he – and instead looked around at the oddly feudal era landscape and architecture.

A light smile curved his lips, enjoying the feel of nature surrounding the village as well as the much-improved weather conditions as compared to their gloomy home country. Whilst immersing himself into the new environment, he may or may not have unwittingly separated from the rest of the group.

His feet brought him to explore the town before he ended up at a small empty area that he guessed to be a make-shift playground by the looks of the children playing together on swings. Harry blinked and smiled at each uniquely dressed child as they laughed happily amongst one another.

Senses perking at approaching figures, Harry turned to see some adults coming towards him. Harry looked down at himself and thought that maybe he might stand out with his leather-like dragonhide boots and vest, but his dark, loose coat didn't particularly outstanding considering the individual attires he'd seen throughout the day.

Harry looked up just in time to see the people glance at him curiously before walking past him and calling out towards the children instead. Silently thanking Hermione for her temporary linguistic-spell, he understood that they were calling their children back as it'd gotten late.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up to note that, yes, the sky was a burnt-orange hue already. He cocked his head to take one last glance at the kids running up obligingly towards their parents to see one particular child skid to an abrupt stop. Harry's brows raised up in amusement at the kid's glaring orange jumpsuit attire but frowned at the emotion that flashed through the boy's eyes; hurt, sadness, loneliness, and longing.

Harry frowned in confusion before he registered the parents around him urging their children away and the words they whispered. Things like "I told you not to play with that boy", which caused Harry to frown even more, eyes flicking back towards the small child standing alone in the enclosed park, looking so small and alone.

Pursing his lips, Harry racked his brain on what he should do when the choice was taken from him as the boy, not even noticing Harry's presence, dropped his gaze and turned, heading through another exit towards the village. Watching those slumped shoulders for a moment longer, Harry trailed after him.

* * *

**I really shouldn't be starting another story... damnit. Well anyway uni's started.. and i have a naruto+OP fanatic friend and yes... :X i dont plan on this being a 'story' per se... more like some random drabbles that pop into mind as i rewatch naruto x.x here we go...**

**btw, this is the first out of 2 sections to part one.. if that even makes any sense. this is one of the things AO3 makes easier.. hahaha. Anyway I should be able to put the next part up quick since its short (: **


	2. Part 1-2

**Just so you know, some parts in the first bit are in italics to show the language change from English to Japanese and vice versa... I don't do it for the later bits because you can then just assume that if the trio are talking to each other its in English, and any other time its in Japanese (:**

* * *

Rows of masks hung up on display caught the boy's eyes as he trudged along the village path. His face brightened and a smile stretched across his face. Harry chuckled at the ease at which the child's mood swung from one to another before he saw the shopkeeper turn and, immediately spotting – and apparently recognising – the kid, a harsh expression of anger and disgust warped his face.

"You little monster, get lost!" His rough voice growled as the man roughly shoved the boy's chest, causing him to yelp in surprise and fall back on his bum.

Indignant, the young child scowled and shouted, "what was that for?"

Equally as vexed, Harry's eyes watched as the man crudely grabbed one of his many painted masks and threw it right and the boy's head, watching it bounce off the boy's head as he spat, "you can have it, so hurry up and scram!"

Having enough, Harry was about ready to leap into action when his shoulder was grabbed from the side. He spun around, on alert, to come face to face with him bemused team and one irate Hermione Granger, brow raised. His demeanour instantly shifted to flustered and guilty, remembering how he'd shirked his duties for the day.

"Harry," Hermione started with her most patronising tone, "you actually _do_ have some responsibilities facilitating this treaty, you know."

"Yea, Yeah 'Mione, I know, I just—" he paused, glimpsing from the corner of his eye that the boy was dejectedly brushing off his pants and standing. Before he could leave again, Harry swiftly strode over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, mouth turning down when he felt the boy flinch away slightly.

Seeing the blank face turn to him, glower already in place, probably waiting another verbal bashing, Harry smiled openly, "_Hello, my name is Harry. Ha-rii_," he repeated. "_My friends and I are new to Konoha and I thought you looked like a guy who'd know the best place to eat right now_."

Confusion flashed across the blonde boy's face before he guardedly answered, "_my name is Uzumaki Naruto_," then, thinking about the second part of the man's sentence, a grin broke out across his face as he perked up, "_of course! Ichiraku ramen is the only good place to eat here!_"

Harry chuckled at Naruto's enthusiasm before deftly bending down and snatching up the discarded mask from before. About to offer it to Naruto, his attention instead drifted to another person nearby who, too, wore a mask.

Standing languidly – yet still in a way that reminded Harry of trained fighters – was a man decked out with what Harry had come to acknowledge as ninja-wear, along with a katana strapped across his back and a mask concealing his face.

"He's a guard the Hokage assigned to us," Ron cut in before Harry could ask.

"What's with the masks?"

"It's supposed to be animal masks worn only by their elite ANBU squad to conceal their identities," Hermione explained readily. "ANBU meaning 'Special Assassination and Tactical Squad' (_Ansastsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai_)" she easily slipped into Japanese, emphasising the acronyms.

"_Uh... nice to meet you… Ook—_"

"_Ah! ANBU no Inu-san _(Dog)_!_" Naruto cut in, saving Harry from what would've been an embarrassing guess at the mysterious man's animal mask. He may have still raised an incredulous brow, however, as he thought to himself how in the world that resembled any animal at all, let alone a dog.

The stoic man merely nodded once in acknowledgement to Naruto. Glancing over at his friends, Ron merely shrugged and said, "seems like they only answer to the Hokage, mate."

Satisfied with that, Harry held out the mask between his fingers towards Naruto, lips quirking, "how about it, Naruto-kun, want to be Hokage's ninja like Inu-san?"

"Geheheheh," Naruto snatched the mask from Harry's fingers and put it on, but not before saying "no way, I'm going to _be_ the Hokage, Harii-san!" Their whole group smiled indulgingly at the boy before getting him to lead the way to his favourite food store.

* * *

Beckoning the polite girl taking their orders, Harry leaned in, "keep 'em coming for him, please," jabbing a thumb over at Naruto, who was happily firing questions and answers back at Hermione, keeping up with her own pace. "He's growing, after all. I'll cover the costs." Harry smiled, but then blinked when he saw the happiness spread across the girl's face as well, quickly nodding with an affirmative, "hai, okyaku-sama (customer)!"

Chuckling, the first round of ramen arrived soon after and the 'golden trio' were ready to start salivating at the delicious aroma wafting up from the generous bowls. Hermione, with some input from Naruto, had been the one who ordered for Ron and himself. He'd gotten a plain Miso Ramen, since he'd never tried it before.

Plucking the chopsticks up between his fingers, the masked figure beside him tapped his shoulder gently and motioned for him to observed Naruto, who clasped his own utensils together and loudly exclaimed, "itadakimasu (thanks for the food)!"

Laughing good-naturedly and feeling slightly foolish, the trio followed his example before tucking in. Moans were heard across the bar as each savoured the wonderful food. Harry snuck a glance to his right to blink in surprise when he not only saw the ANBU-man still with his mask on, but his bowl completely wiped clean. The man proceeded to let out a soft, but contented sigh, "gochisosamadeshita (thanks for the meal)."

Harry simply shook his head and muffled his laughter as he was still chewing on his own food. He also noticed curiously that the energy that the fighters here used… 'chakra', was it? It was so well-attuned to their own bodies that he could feel the energy around them. Conveniently sitting between Naruto and Inu-san, Harry noted that though they possessed the same core power – with Naruto's being significantly harder to detect, of course, as he'd hardly had the chance to start manipulating it yet – they could actually be told apart. Harry mentally took a note of this in case he'd need to identify someone by their chakra signature in the future; or perhaps even using it to track someone?

Meanwhile, he and his friends watched incredulously as Naruto finished off his bowl soon after and those stunning blue eyes widen as another bowl was plopped in front of him by the waitress, Ayame.

By the time the three friends had finished, and was thoroughly satisfied, by their measly single bowls, Naruto had worked his way up into a tower of five bowls. He drank up the remainders of his sixth before victoriously leaning back and patting his distended tummy. Hermione had giggled at the boy's cute antics while Harry called for the bill. He held up a hand quickly to cut off any protests the silly boy may have come up with, and cheerfully thanked the family for their scrumptious meals.

Naruto, by now well aware of their purpose in Konoha, eagerly offered to show them the way to their lodgings. He had happily bid them goodnight and a many thanks for the meal, bounding off to his own home; but not before extracting a promise to see each other again.

"Have a pleasant night," Inu-san inclined his head once before disappearing as well. No doubt they'd see him around soon enough.

* * *

And so it went; Naruto had turned into their unofficial Konoha guide, along with Inu-san who trailed after them like a shadow. Finally, their stay came to an end and the trio had to begin making their way back to Magical Great Britain. They awoke extra early so as to give them the day to travel across the warp between their 'worlds', per se.

Their two companions were aware of their plans to leave this morning and they spotted the two standing by the tall village gates. Ron had first spoken to Naruto, grinning and patting him on the shoulder. Then Hermione had run her gentle finger through Naruto's spiky blonde hair, bending down to thank him for his company and give him a warm hug that might have set Naruto's lips wobbling. They turned to amiably thank Inu-san as well for his service.

"Hey kiddo," Harry smiled, crouching down to face-level with the brightly-coloured boy. "Thanks for showing us around, you were a great tour-guide." Naruto's bright blue eyes locked with his own green pair, and a touch of sadness dulled Harry's smile. "I don't know what's up with your villagers, but I'm sure it'll get better. _Be strong_," he repeated his mother's words.

Harry leaned forward and pressed a hug onto the young boy and quirked his lips as the small head nuzzled his collarbone affectionately. Then, he pushed himself up and reached out to ruffle those startling blonde locks, grinning, "take care of yourself, Naruto. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

He turned to Inu-san and nodded once, "thanks for guarding us, I guess. Although from what, I've yet to determine." The other man simply nodded silently in return, although his demeanour had greatly relaxed around the group over the past few days.

With that, they departed the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

Naruto watched the three figures he'd – unwittingly – become significantly attached to fade into the distance. The sun was rising over the horizon, in the direction they walked. Naruto's chest was tight and felt painful; his hand grasped his shirt but there was no wound. Only the beauty of the sunrise before him comforted him.

He wanted to go with them, those strangers who'd taken them in so easily, unlike the villagers who'd watched him his entire life. But he couldn't. At his age, he didn't even know what was stopping him, but he just knew he couldn't leave.

Startled by a light hand on his shoulder, Naruto glanced up at Inu-san who inclined his head once at him, waited for him to do the same, before he, too, disappeared.

Naruto was alone, again.

* * *

**...And that's the end of Part One (: Like I said before.. these are probably just a series of drabbles so... hahaha yeah. but part one is mostly like an introduction anyway.**

**Do review and tell me what you think ;) If you want to contribute any interesting ideas feel free haha I just write whatever pops into mind as i'm currently rewatching Naruto ;)**


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